I have been looking in the archives for some help on a situation that my daughter is having with her 9 month old b**ch. I didn't see anything on this so here goes. She moves well in the ring and stacks and free baits like a dream. She hardly ever takes her eyes off Jes. The only problem is that her tail is either straight out or down. She does not wag her tail. She is so focused on Jes it doesn't move. When the judge goes over her she goes crazy and then the tail starts wagging.

So here is 2 questions: 1. Is it bad that her tail is not wagging and does that make a difference to the judge and 2. If it does make a difference any suggestions on how to get that tail moving.

We have tried every treat known to man and toys and no play time until Jes takes her in the ring. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My first thought to this was to give her a "wag" command when she's being examined because that is when you said she is wagging, right? So maybe, "good wag, puppy" over and over as she is wagging during examination? Then after repeating this scenario over several days try the command in a stand? Don't know if it will work, but just maybe?

Also wanted to add that maybe if your daughter averts her eyes while the puppy is free baited/stacked. Then gives the command "good wag."

I would bet you can get her to do it with clicker training! Nice thing is you don't actually need a clicker if you're anxious to start, you can do the cluck cluck sound off the roof of the mouth. She can practice anytime at home for whatever reason the dog is wagging her tail... catch her wagging her tail, then click & treat. But first I would start with the very basics... would start off as this instruction suggests, but it shouldn't be long that you can move to clicking when you catch her wagging her tail, then eventually offering the "bridge" word or short phrase (maybe "wag it") and having her wag when hearing that word!
http://www.clickerlessons.com/clicker.htm

BTW I walways use words that start off with "W", only because that's how I was taught ... "watch me", "wait", "wanna cookie", etc.

I used the click and treat method with my girl and it has worked quite well. That clicker is like a magical wand in my life sometimes!

I haven't tried the clicker idea and I think we will try it at handling class tonight and see how that goes. I knew that if I asked I would get a great answer from this forum.

It looks like from the answers so far that wagging is definitely a plus for a judge.

What happens if your daughter talks to her? As in:

"Oh! What a preeeeettttttty girl!!!!"
"Look at my cute little puppy wuppy!!!!!"
"You're sooooo pretty!!!!"
"I just love my honey bunny!!!"

A good dose of happy talk can work wonders. And tell your daughter to SMILE or the dog will know it is not for real.

She has tried to do that but most of the time she looks at her like what in the world is wrong with you. She will wag her tail maybe once or twice and then its back to standing completely still. Will work on the happy talk as well and see if that gets us anywhere.

At this point willing to try almost everything!

Sounds like my dog! He great at showing, perfect stance, very focused, but no tail-wagging in the ring at all... Good luck! I hope I find a good solution too. Thanks to all you posters!

I think it's along the thinking... to eliminate an undesireable behavior, teach the dog a desireable behavior that they can offer up instead and one which you can reward them for!

I have a bitch who shows just like that, and now her daughter does, too. The thing is, they are two of the showiest bitches I have in the sense that they plant their feet and I can go to the end of the leash and they stand there like rocks. They also never put their ears down. So I kind of take the good with the bad, one judge told me it was just that they were so focused on the bait. I have another bitch who wags like crazy but was a PITA to show this weekend, so I think I'll take the focused rocks anyday. I just hope judges don't think they are worried, because they aren't. I think the key is just show them off, because someone said to me, she showed her heart out! when I walked out of the ring. I think she did, she just didn't wag. Try showing a dog who won't give ears and you'll start to LOVE your puppy. :)

Becky,

I am so glad you asked this question. It is not easy to train a dog to wag its tail in the ring. I have been working on this of a couple weeks and have not got it yet.

My Chloe, who turned a year on the 14th, is very easy to show and will wag her tail on the down and back and go arounds but when she is stacked she does not move. She always has ears up and looks nice. But I too am afraid that we sometimes lose because she does not wag her tail. She is also the dog my son shows. He has the same problems. My other girl Annabella (8 months) she the exact opposite. She never stops wagging her tail. And when the judge tries to go over her it is worse. She gets all excited and sits down and tries to give kisses. We have been going to handle classes and Anna is getting better at being still but I still can not get Chloe to wag her tail.

We will try some of the advice given and if you figure something new that works please let us know.

Dayna

I happy talk/baby talk my dogs from the moment I get them. My objective is to get them thinking that ANYTHING I ask them to do is fun, fun, fun. WHile stacking their tails are going a mile a minute. My male is particularly animated - he thinks the whole world is alll about him. So they are always wagging like crazy and giving the impression that this is the best fun in the world. Not that I am an expert, but I would rather have a very animated dog who is obviously having a great time than one who stacks perfectly and is not acting as though this is riotous good fun. Even if I lose, if my dogs are not having fun then I am not either. I suppose I look silly quietly baby talking a male who weighs in at 80-85# but I don't care.
JMO
A

Guess I never paided attention but I guess I do the "w" thing too.
Wanna treat, watch me, wait... for her wag I say Where is your tail.

I started by every time she wagged I say "GOOD TAIL" and click and treat. Now she is almost at the point where I can just ask "where is your tail" and it works.

Alexandra I'm not sure that she is not happy in the ring because she has a great personality and seems to love it. I think its more about pleasing Jes. Jes uses her for Junior Showmanship as well so she works with her alot to get her to perform well in the junior ring. I think it is more of trying different things with her to get her more animated. The suggestions on here are defintely helping.

Thanks,
I understand totally. I did not mean to imply that her dog is unhappy although I have seen cowed dogs in the ring also. I was just giving my opinion on what I like to see and how I babytalk my dogs to get them happy happy happy, which looks silly (babytalking), I know. They even wag like crazy when I am clipping nails b/c I am baby talking them. I am not an expert, by any means.

Don't take offense please, none intended here.
Thanks again,
A

I didn't take offense at all. That is why I asked the question because I was worried it would make a difference between winning or not. I didn't want for her to work on getting it to wag if it didn't make that much difference. She has enough to worry about with making sure the movement and everything else is perfect. Actually in the Junior ring it looks better when she is not wagging because it looks like she has better control of the dog. In the Lab ring I think it looks better when she is wagging.

That was why I was looking for a way to make her do it on command (if thats possible). It sounds like the clicker may be what I was looking for!!!!

Thanks for everyone's help.

Actually the wagging on command sounds like a good idea although I don't think my dogs will ever get still tails since I have worked so hard to get the wag thing going and them overjoyed about everything...but good idea and something to think about.
Thanks,
A